^^jyjs 


Pi 

I  Joy 


'^h- 


R.  L.  STEVENSON 

A  CHRISTMAS  SERMON 

^S  TRIPLEX 

PRAYERS  WRITTEN 

AT  VAILIMA 

PRAYERS  WRITTEN  AT  VAILIMA 

BY 

ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON 


PRAYERS 

WRITTEN  AT  VAILIMA 

BY 

ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON 

WITH 

AN   INTRODUCTION  BY 

MRS.  STEVENSON 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER's  SONS 

MDCCCCIIII 


COPYRIGHT,  1904,  BY  CHARLES  SCRIBNER's  SONS 


D.  B.  UPDIKE,  THE  MERRYMOUNT  PRESS,  BOSTON 


CONTENTS 


FOR  SUCCESS 

I 

FOR  GRACE 

3 

AT  MORNING 

4 

EVENING 

5 

ANOTHER  FOR  EVENING 

7 

IN  TIME  OF  RAIN 

8 

ANOTHER  IN  TIME  OF  RAIN 

9 

BEFORE    A    TEMPORARY    SEPARA- 

TION 

10 

FOR  FRIENDS 

III 

FOR  THE  FAMILY 

12 

SUNDAY 

14 

FOR  SELF-BLAME 

i6 

FOR  SELF-FORGETFULNESS 

i8 

FOR  RENEWAL  OF  JOY 

19 

INTRODUCTION 

IN  every  Samoan  household  the  day 
is  closed  with  prayer  and  the  sing- 
ing of  hymns.  The  omission  of  this  sa- 
cred duty  would  indicate  not  only  a 
lack  of  religious  training  in  the  house 
chiefs  but  a  shameless  disregard  of  all 
that  is  reputable  in  Samoan  social  life. 
No  doubt,  to  many,  the  evening  service^ 
is  no  more  than  a  duty  fulfilled.  The 
child  who  says  his  prayer  at  his  mo- 
ther s  knee  can  have  no  real  conception 
of  the  meaning  of  the  words  he  lisps 
so  readily, yet  he  goes  to  his  little  bed 
with  a  sense  of  heavenly  protection  that 
he  would  miss  were  the  prayer  forgot- 
ten.  The  average  Samoan  is  but  a 

I  vii  3 


larger  child  in  most  things,  and  would 
lay  an  uneasy  head  on  his  wooden  pil- 
low if  he  had  not  joined,  even  perfunc- 
torily, in  the  evening  service.  With  my 
husband, prayer,  the  direct  appeal,  was 
a  necessity.  When  he  was  happy  he  felt 
impelled  to  offer  thanks  for  that  un- 
deserved joy;  when  in  sorrow,  or  pain, 
to  call  for  strength  to  bear  what  must 
be  borne. 

Vailima  lay  up  some  three  miles  of 
continual  rise  from  Apia, andmore  than 
half  that  distance  from  the  nearest  vil- 
lage. It  was  a  long  way  for  a  tired  man 
to  walk  down  every  evening  with  the 
sole  purpose  of  joining  in  family  wor- 
ship ;  and  the  road  through  the  bush  was 
dark,  and,  to  the  Samoan  imagination, 
beset  with  supernatural  terrors.  Where- 


fore  yds  soon  as  our  household  had  fallen 
into  a  regular  routine, and  the  bonds  of 
Samoan  family  life  began  to  draw  us 
more  closely  together,  Tusitalafelt  the 
necessity  of  including  our  retainers  in 
our  evening  devotions.  I  suppose  ours 
was  the  only  white  man  s  family  in  all 
Samoa,  except  those  of  the  mission- 
aries, where  the  day  naturally  ended 
with  this  homely,  patriarchal  custom. 
Not  only  were  the  religious  scruples  of 
the  natives  satisfied,  but  what  we  did 
not  foresee,  our  own  respedlability — 
and  incidentally  that  of  our  retainers — 
became  assured,  and  the  influence  of 
Tusitala  increased  tenfold. 

After  all  work  and  meals  were 
finished,  the  '^pu,''  or  war  conch,  was 
sounded  from  the  back  veranda  and  the 


front,  so  that  it  might  be  heard  by  all, 
Idont  think  it  ever  occurred  to  us  that 
there  was  any  incongruity  in  the  use  of 
the  war  conch  for  the  peaceful  invita- 
tion to  prayer.  In  response  to  its  sum- 
mons the  white  members  of  the  family 
took  their  usual  places,  in  one  end  of 
the  large  hall,  while  the  Samoans — 
men,  women  and  children — trooped  in 
through  all  the  open  doors,  some  carry- 
ing lanterns  if  the  evening  were  dark, 
all  moving  quietly  and  dropping  with 
Samoan  decorum  in  a  wide  semicircle 
on  the  floor  beneath  a  great  lamp  that 
hung  from  the  ceiling.  The  service  be- 
gan by  my  son  reading  a  chapter  from 
the  Samoan  Bible,  Tusitala  following 
with  a  prayer  in  English,  sometimes 
impromptu,  but  more  often  from  the 


notes  in  this  little  book,  interpolating, 
or  changing  with  the  circumstances  of 
the  day.  Then  came  the  singing  of  one 
or  more  hymns  in  the  native  tongue, 
and  the  recitation  in  concert  of  the 
Lord*s  Prayer,  also  in  Samoan.  Many 
of  these  hymns  were  set  to  ancient  tunes 
very  wild  and  warlike  and  strangely 
at  variance  with  the  missionary  words. 
Sometimes  a  passing  hand  of  hostile 
warriors,  with  blackened  faces ,  would 
peer  in  at  us  through  the  open  win- 
dows ,  and  often  we  were  forced  to  pause 
until  the  strangely  savage,  monotonous 
noise  of  the  native  drums  had  ceased; 
but  no  Samoan,  nor, I  trust,  white  per- 
son,changedhis  reverent  attitude. Once, 
I  remember  a  look  of  surprised  dismay 
crossing  the  countenance  of  Tusitala 


when  my  son,  contrary  to  his  usual 
custom  of  reading  the  next  chapter  fol- 
lowing that  of  yesterday ,  turned  back 
the  leaves  of  his  Bible  to  find  a  chapter 
fiercely  denunciatory,  and  only  too  ap- 
plicable to  the  foreign  dictators  of  dis- 
tracted Samoa,  On  another  occasion  the 
chief,  himself,  brought  the  service  to  a 
sudden  check.  He  had  just  learned  of 
the  treacherous  condudt  of  one  in  whom 
he  had  every  reason  to  trust.  That  even- 
ing the  prayer  seemed  unusually  short 
and  formal.  As  the  singing  stopped  he 
arose  abruptly  and  left  the  room.  I  has- 
tened after  him,  fearing  some  sudden 
illness.  "  What  is  it?"  I  asked.  "  It  is 
^  this,*' was  the  reply;''  I  am  not  yet  fit  to 
say  '  Forgive  us  our  trespasses  as  we  for- 
give those  who  trespass  against  us/" 
i  xii  : 


It  is  with  natural  reludlance  that  I 
touch  upon  the  last  prayer  of  my  hus- 
band's life.  Many  have  supposed  that 
he  showed,  in  the  wording  of  this  prayer, 
that  he  had  some  premonition  of  his  ap- 
proaching death.  I  am  sure  he  had  no 
such  premonition.  It  was  I  who  told 
the  assembled  family  that  I  felt  an  im- 
pending disaster  approaching  nearer 
and  nearer.  Any  Scot  will  understand 
that  my  statement  was  received  seri- 
ously. It  could  not  be,  we  thought,  that 
danger  threatened  any  one  within  the 
house;  but  Mr.  Graham  Balfour,  my 
husband's  cousin,  very  near  and  dear  to 
us,  was  away  on  a  perilous  cruise.  Our  ^4 
fears  followed  the  various  vessels ,  more 
or  less  unseaworthy,  in  which  he  was 

making  his  way  from  island  to  island 
I  xiii  ] 


% 


^ 


to  the  atoll  where  the  exiled  king,  Ma- 
taqfa,  was  at  that  time  imprisoned.  In 
my  husband's  last  prayer,  the  night  he- 
fore  his  death,  he  asked  that  we  should 
he  given  strength  to  hear  the  loss  of  this 
dear  friend, should  such  a  sorrow  hefall 
us. 


PRAYERS 

For  Succefs 

[ORD,  behold  our  family  here 
assembled.  We  thank  Thee 
for  this  place  in  which  we 
dwell ;  for  the  love  that  unites  us ;  for 
the  peace  accorded  us  this  day ;  for 
the  hope  with  which  we  expe6l  the 
morrow ;  for  the  health ,  the  work ,  the 
food,  and  the  bright  skies,  that  make 
our  lives  delightful ;  for  our  friends  in 
all  parts  of  the  earth,  and  our  friendly 
helpers  in  this  foreign  isle.  Let  peace 
abound  in  our  small  company.  Purge 
out  of  every  heart  the  lurking  grudge. 
Give  us  grace  and  strength  to  for- 
bear and  to  persevere.  Offenders, 
give  us  the  grace  to  accept  and  to  for- 
give offenders.  Forgetful  ourselves, 

CO  ■ 


help  us  to  bear  cheerfully  the  forget- 
fulness  of  others.  Give  us  courage 
and  gaiety  and  the  quiet  mind.  Spare 
to  us  our  friends,  soften  to  us  our  ene- 
mies. Bless  us,  if  it  may  be,  in  all  our 
innocent  endeavours.  If  it  may  not, 
give  us  the  strength  to  encounter  that 
w^hich  is  to  come,  that  we  be  brave 
in  peril,  constant  in  tribulation,  tem- 
perate in  w^rath,  and  in  all  changes 
of  fortune,  and  dow^n  to  the  gates  of 
death,  loyal  and  loving  one  to  an- 
other. As  the  clay  to  the  potter,  as 
the  w^indmill  to  the  wind,  as  children 
of  their  sire,  we  beseech  of  Thee  this 
help  and  mercy  for  Christ's  sake. 


CO 


For  Grace 

RANT  that  we  here  before 
Thee  may  be  set  free  from 
the  fear  of  vicissitude  and  the 
fear  of  death ,  may  finish  what  remains 
before  us  of  our  course  without  dis- 
honour to  ourselves  or  hurt  to  others, 
and,  when  the  day  comes,  may  die  in 
peace.  Deliver  us  from  fear  and  fa- 
vour: from  mean  hopes  and  cheap 
pleasures.  Have  mercy  on  each  in  his 
deficiency ;  let  him  be  not  cast  down ; 
support  the  stumbling  on  the  way, 
and  give  at  last  rest  to  the  weary. 


Is-} 


At  Morning 


^^gHE  day  returns  and  brings 
us  the  petty  round  of  irri- 
tating concerns  and  duties. 
Help  us  to  play  the  man,  help  us  to 
perform  them  with  laughter  and  kind 
faces,  let  cheerfulness  abound  with 
industry.  Give  us  to  go  blithely  on  our 
business  all  this  day,  bring  us  to  our 
resting  beds  weary  and  content  and 
undishonoured,  and  grant  us  in  the 
end  the  gift  of  sleep. 


C43 


Evening 

Ecome  beforeThee,0  Lord, 
in  the  end  of  thy  day  with 
thanksgiving. 

Our  beloved  in  the  far  parts  of  the 
earth,  those  who  are  now  beginning 
the  labours  of  the  day  what  time  we 
end  them,  and  those  with  whom  the 
sun  now  stands  at  the  point  of  noon, 
bless,  help,  console,  and  prosper 
them. 

Our  guard  is  relieved,  the  service 
of  the  day  is  over,  and  the  hour  come 
to  rest.  We  resign  into  thy  hands 
our  sleeping  bodies,  our  cold  hearths 
and  open  doors.  Give  us  to  awake 
with  smiles,  give  us  to  labour  smiling. 
As  the  sun  returns  in  the  east,  so  let 
our  patience  be  renewed  with  dawn ; 
as  the  sun  lightens  the  world,  so  let 

15-} 


our  loving-kindness  make  bright  this 
house  of  our  habitation. 


Csu 


Another  for  Evening 

ORD,  receive  our  supplica- 
tions for  this  house,  family, 
and  country.  Proteft  the  in- 
nocent, restrain  the  greedy  and  the 
treacherous,  lead  us  out  of  our  tribu- 
lation into  a  quiet  land. 

Look  down  upon  ourselves  and  up- 
on our  absent  dear  ones.  Help  us  and 
them;  prolong  our  days  in  peace  and 
honour.  Give  us  health,  food,  bright 
weather,  and  light  hearts.  In  what  we 
meditate  of  evil,  frustrate  our  will; 
in  what  of  good,  further  our  endea- 
vours. Cause  injuries  to  be  forgot  and 
benefits  to  be  remembered. 

Let  us  lie  down  without  fear  and 
awake  and  arise  with  exultation.  For 
his  sake,  in  whose  words  we  now 
conclude. 

Ill 


In  Time  of  Rain 

E  thank  Thee,  Lord,  for  the 
glory  of  the  late  days  and 
the  excellent  face  of  thy  sun . 
We  thank  Thee  for  good  news  re- 
ceived. We  thank  Thee  for  the  plea- 
sures we  have  enjoyed  and  for  those 
we  have  been  able  to  confer.  And 
now,  when  the  clouds  gather  and  the 
rain  impends  over  the  forest  and  our 
house,  permit  us  not  to  be  cast  down; 
let  us  not  lose  the  savour  of  past  mer- 
cies and  past  pleasures ;  but,  like  the 
voice  of  a  bird  singing  in  the  rain,  let 
grateful  memory  survive  in  the  hour 
of  darkness.  If  there  be  in  front  of  us 
any  painful  duty,  strengthen  us  with 
the  grace  of  courage ;  if  any  aft  of 
mercy,  teach  us  tenderness  and  pa- 
tience. 

C8J 


Another  in  Time  of  Rain 

'ORD,  Thou  sendest  down 
rain  upon  the  uncounted 
millions  of  the  forest,  and 
givest  the  trees  to  drink  exceedingly. 
We  are  here  upon  this  isle  a  few  hand- 
fuls  of  men,  and  how  many  myriads 
upon  myriadsof  stalwart  trees !  Teach 
us  the  lesson  of  the  trees.  The  sea 
around  us,  which  this  rain  recruits, 
teems  with  the  race  of  fish;  teach  us. 
Lord,  the  meaning  of  the  fishes.  Let 
us  see  ourselves  for  what  we  are,  one 
out  of  the  countless  number  of  the 
clans  of  thy  handiwork.  When  we 
would  despair,  let  us  remember  that 
these  also  please  and  serve  Thee. 


C93 


Before  a  Temporary  Separation 


^^^O-DAY  we  go  forth  sepa- 
rate, some  of  us  to  pleasure, 
some  of  us  to  worship,  some 
upon  duty.  Go  with  us,  our  guide  and 
angel ;  hold  Thou  before  us  in  our  di- 
vided paths  the  mark  of  our  low  call- 
ing, still  to  be  true  to  what  small  best 
we  can  attain  to.  Help  us  in  that,  our 
maker,  the  dispenser  of  events — 
Thou,  of  the  vast  designs,  in  which 
we  blindly  labour,  suffer  us  to  be  so 
far  constant  to  ourselves  and  our  be- 
loved. 


C^oJ 


For  Friends 

OR  our  absent  loved  ones  we 
implore  thy  loving-kind- 
ness. Keep  them  in  life,  keep 
them  in  growing  honour ;  and  for  us, 
grant  that  we  remain  worthy  of  their 
love.  For  Christ's  sake,  let  not  our 
beloved  blush  for  us,  nor  we  for  them. 
Grant  us  but  that,  and  grant  us  cour- 
age to  endure  lesser  ills  unshaken, 
and  to  accept  death,  loss,  and  disap- 
pointment as  it  were  straws  upon  the 
tide  of  life. 


c^n 


For  the  Family 

ID  us,  if  it  be  thy  will,  in  our 
concerns.  Have  mercy  on 
this  land  and  innocent  peo- 
ple. Help  them  who  this  day  contend 
in  disappointment  with  their  frailties. 
Bless  our  family,  bless  our  forest 
house,  bless  our  island  helpers.  Thou 
who  hast  made  for  us  this  place  of 
ease  and  hope,  accept  and  inflame  our 
gratitude ;  help  us  to  repay,  in  service 
one  to  another,  the  debt  of  thine  un- 
merited benefits  and  mercies,  so  that 
when  the  period  of  our  stewardship 
draws  to  a  conclusion,  when  the  win- 
dows begin  to  be  darkened,  when  the 
bond  of  the  family  is  to  be  loosed, 
there  shall  be  no  bitterness  of  re- 
morse in  our  farewells. 

Help  us  to  look  back  on  the  long 


way  that  Thou  hast  brought  us,  on 
the  long  days  in  which  we  have  been 
served  not  according  to  our  deserts 
but  our  desires;  on  the  pit  and  the 
miry  clay,  the  blackness  of  despair, 
the  horror  of  miscondu6l, from  which 
our  feet  have  been  plucked  out.  For 
our  sins  forgiven  or  prevented,  for 
our  shame  unpublished,  we  bless  and 
thank  Thee,  O  God.  Help  us  yet 
again  and  ever.  So  order  events,  so 
strengthen  our  frailty,  as  that  day  by 
day  we  shall  come  before  Thee  with 
this  song  of  gratitude,  and  in  the  end 
we  be  dismissed  with  honour.  In  their 
weakness  and  their  fear,  the  vessels 
of  thy  handiwork  so  pray  to  Thee,  so 
praise  Thee.  Amen. 


LisH 


Sunday 

E  beseech  Thee,  Lord,  to  be- 
hold us  with  favour,  folk  of 
many  families  and  nations 
gathered  together  in  the  peace  of  this 
roof,  weak  men  and  women  subsist- 
ing under  the  covert  of  thy  patience. 
Be  patient  still ;  suffer  us  yet  awhile 
longer; — with  our  broken  purposes 
of  good,  with  our  idle  endeavours 
against  evil,  suffer  us  awhile  longer 
to  endure  and  ( if  it  may  be )  help  us 
to  do  better.  Bless  to  us  our  extraor- 
dinary mercies ;  if  the  day  come  when 
these  must  be  taken,  brace  us  to  play 
the  man  under  affliftion.  Be  with  our 
friends,  be  with  ourselves.  Go  with 
each  of  us  to  rest ;  if  any  awake,  tem- 
per to  them  the  dark  hours  of  watch- 
ing ;  and  when  the  day  returns,  re- 

1:14  J 


turn  to  us, our  sun  and  comforter,and 
call  us  up  with  morning  faces  and 
with  morning  hearts — eager  to  la- 
bour— eager  to  be  happy,  if  happi- 
ness shall  be  our  portion — and  if  the 
day  be  marked  for  sorrow,  strong  to 
endure  it. 

We  thank  Thee  and  praise  Thee ; 
and  in  the  words  of  him  to  whom  this 
day  is  sacred,  close  our  oblation. 


His  3 


For  Self-Blame 

ORD,  enlighten  us  to  see  the 
beam  that  is  in  our  own  eye, 
and  blind  us  to  the  mote  that 
is  in  our  brother's.  Let  us  feel  our 
offences  with  our  hands,  make  them 
great  and  bright  before  us  like  the 
sun, make  us  eat  them  and  drink  them 
for  our  diet.  Blind  us  to  the  offences 
of  our  beloved,  cleanse  them  from 
our  memories,  take  them  out  of  our 
mouths  for  ever.  Let  all  here  before 
Thee  carry  and  measure  with  the 
false  balances  of  love,  and  be  in  their 
own  eyes  and  in  all  conjun6lures  the 
most  guilty.  Help  us  at  the  same  time 
with  the  grace  of  courage,  that  we  be 
none  of  us  cast  down  when  we  sit  la- 
menting amid  the  ruins  of  our  happi- 
ness or  our  integrity :  touch  us  with 


fire  from  the  altar,  that  we  may  be 
up  and  doing  to  rebuild  our  city :  in 
the  name  and  by  the  method  of  him 
in  whose  words  of  prayer  we  now 
conclude. 


\:^7'2 


For  Self-Forgetfulnefs 

ORD,  the  creatures  of  thy 

hand,  thy  disinherited  chil- 

^^  dren,   come    before   Thee 


with  their  incoherent  wishes  and  re- 
grets :  Children  we  are,  children  we 
shall  be,  till  our  mother  the  earth  hath 
fed  upon  our  bones.  Accept  us,  cor- 
re6l  us,  guide  us, thy  guilty  innocents. 
Dry  our  vain  tears,  wipe  out  our  vain 
resentments,  help  our  yet  vainer  ef- 
forts. If  there  be  any  here,  sulking  as 
children  will,  deal  with  and  enlighten 
him.  Make  it  day  about  that  person, 
so  that  he  shall  see  himself  and  be 
ashamed.  Make  it  heaven  about  him. 
Lord,  by  the  only  way  to  heaven,  for- 
getfulness  of  self,  and  make  it  day 
about  his  neighbours,  so  that  they 
shall  help,  not  hinder  him. 

C  18  3 


For  Renewal  of  Joy 

E  are  evil,  O  God,  and  help 
us  to  see  it  and  amend.  We 
are  good,  and  help  us  to  be 
better.  Look  down  upon  thy  servants 
with  a  patient  eye,  even  as  Thou 
sendest  sun  and  rain;  look  down,  call 
upon  the  dry  bones,  quicken,  enliven; 
recreate  in  us  the  soul  of  service,  the 
spirit  of  peace;  renew  in  us  the  sense 
of  joy. 


[19] 


P7 


#  ♦ 


